Two new VAX/VMS computer programs are presented for accessing and searching the Powder Diffraction File (PDF) (1989) of the JCPDS-International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD). The programs use binary mapped index files which affords rapid searches of the database. Program LOGIC permits entries in the database to be selected by chemistry, peak position or name constraints. The selected entries may be displayed, printed or graphed. The program can display or print entries from the full PDF-2 (1989) database, if on-line. Program SEARCH searches for patterns in the database which match an unknown set of peaks; the program may be optimized for a wide variety of applications including identification of component phases in mixtures. Commands may be entered to the programs in two modes. In the “novice-friendly” mode, users must answer questions to select options. However, experienced users may opt to use a concise one-line command syntax. The modes may be mixed.

This paper contains a review and explanation of the super conducting Ruddlesden-Popper phases in the systems Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O and Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O. Calculated powder X-ray patterns for the phases Bi-2201, 2212, 2223, and 2234 (where the numbers refer to the stoichiometric ratios of Bi:Sr:Ca:Cu) and Tl-1201, 1212, 1223, 1234, 2201, 2212, 2223, and 2234 (here the numbers refer to the molar ratios of Bi:Ba:Ca:Cu) generated from the reviewed crystal structures are presented. Observed powder patterns for Tl-2201, Tl-2212, Bi-2201 and Bi-2212 are included and compared to the calculated patterns of these phases.

The superconductor related phases Ba3R3Cu6O14+x(or Ba2−zR1+zCu3O7+x, with z=0.5), where R = Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu, have been prepared and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, ac magnetic susceptibility measurement, resistivity measurement and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Attempts to make corresponding compounds with R = Gd, Dy, Y, Er, and Lu were not successful; they do not appear to form for rare-earth elements, R, with an ionic size smaller than Eu. The oxygen content of the successful materials was estimated by TGA. The Ba3R3Cu6Cu14+xcompounds which were sintered at 950°C and annealed in oxygen at 550°C were found to be nonsuperconducting above 10K. Previously reported results for the R=La compound have indicated that it was superconducting with a transition temperature of 15K The oxidation-reduction behavior of the Ba3R3Cu6O14+xmaterials is similar to that of the superconductor phases Ba2RCu3O6+x.

These present isostructural compounds are tetragonal with a space group of P4/mmm. The cell parameters range from a = 3.8612(4), c = 11.5624(14) Å, V = 172.38(4) Å3in the Eu compound to a = 3.8893(3), c = 11.6370(11) Å, and V = 176.03(3) Å3in the Pr compound. The standard X-ray diffraction patterns of these materials are given.

A method of analysis for X-ray diffractometry is proposed for determining the number and the concentrations of phases in a series of samples of the same multiphase system. This method can be used when n samples containing N phases, where N<n, with different concentrations are given or prepared from a given sample.

The method of principal component analysis was applied to the determination of the number of individual phases in multiphase mixtures. A quantification method using the intensity ratio to an arbitrary chosen standard mixture, which is also one of the mixtures to be analyzed, is proposed.

In this study, we examined the validity of this method for X-ray diffractograms of two and three component systems. It is shown that the values determined by the present method are in good agreement with the prepared concentrations of the samples.

The structures of orthorhombic (a=5.5686(2)Å, b=9.8946 (2)Å, c=3.19369(12Å) and cubic (a=9.177(3)Å) Cd2SnO4were refined by Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction patterns. Both of these polymorphs were chemically treated with hydrogen gas mixtures at 400°C, resulting in a colour change from yellow to green. Small structural changes were observed for the orthorhombic material, which underwent a uniform contraction (≈0.02%) of cell size and movement of some oxygen atoms towards the tin atoms. Evidence for loss of structural oxygen was sought, but could not be found above the detection limit of 0.3%. Cubic Cd2SnO4possesses the spinel structure with a large (at least 65%) degree of inversion. Samples prepared with a smaller cell have so far proved unsuitable for Reitveld analysis.

Pearson VII functions, some of the most useful descriptions of the intensity distribution within the X-ray powder reflection, have been used to study distortion in the perovskite-type structure of KMnF3. Separate full-widths, Δ, at half-maximum intensity, and Pearson exponents, m, were taken for the low- and high-angle sides of the profiles. The background was assumed to be linear. For the distorted structure, summation was made over all overlapping lines that might possibly contribute to the observed profile. Measurements were performed using a powder diffractometer with a specially adapted electronic system consisting of an automatic data recorder and a method, developed at this laboratory, for transferring data to an IBM PC/AT computer. By these means it could be shown that at 10° K the crystal structure of KMnF3distorts from cubic to monoclinic.

An X-ray analysis method has been developed for the quantitative analysis of pyrite (FeS2) in coals and lignites. Requiring neither the use of external or internal references, the method linearly relates diffraction peak area in the absorption corrected X-ray diffractogram obtained from the finely powdered coal to the pyrite abundance. The [311] diffraction peak of pyrite (FeS2) has been used to develop the analysis protocol. The Argonne premium coals have been used as the experimental subjects. The abundance of pyrite in each coal has been measured from the absorption corrected diffractograms, which has been constructed from the experimentally measured diffraction intensities and the mass absorption coefficient of each coal sample. The accuracy (accessed from the figure-of-merit and the net count uncertainty associated with the 1.63 Å pyrite peak) as well as the lower limit of detection for pyrite in these coals is presented. The role of the mass absorption coefficient in the conversion of the measured intensity to the absorption corrected intensity is discussed.

The heterocycle of a functionalized 2-imidazoline, C15N2OH18, was obtained by reaction when 2-bromo, 2-alkenoïc ketone was allowed to react with a monosubstituted benzamidine. The compound presents a R*R* configuration. X-ray powder diffraction data have been obtained from single multifaceted brown crystals prepared at 273 K in benzene with triethylamine as catalyst. Chemical analysis gives a purity better than 99%. This compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c [14]. The cell parameters were determined by employing single-crystal diffraction methods (Bragg and precession patterns) and were refined from accurate powder diffractometer data recorded at T = 293 (1) K.

Powder data for Ag2SO4were obtained with a conventional diffractometer equipped with a vacuum heating chamber. The transition from the low-temperature orthorhombic phase occurs over a temperature range of about 415° to 425°C and forms a hexagonal phase plus metallic silver. The lack of a sharp transition must be taken into account in high-temperature X-ray diffraction or DSC/DTA studies. The lattice parameters of the high-temperature hexagonal phase are a = 5.531(3), c = 7.456(5)Å at 440°C, λ = 1.540562 Å. Crystal structure determination was not completed because of uncertainty in the chemical composition.